Leather-cutting machine



(No Model.)

1). KNOX. LEATHER CUTTING MACHINE.

N0. 317,463. Patented May 5, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID KNOX, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHER-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 317,463, dated May 5, 1885.

Application filed February 24, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID KNOX, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Leather-Guttin g Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of leathercutting machines in which two vibratin g knives are caused to descend alternately on a piece of leather, the knives being reversely curved, so that by their joint action they will cut the leather into soleshaped pieces without waste, the leather being moved forward after the action of each knife upon it.

The invention consists in the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figurel represents a perspective view of a machine provided with my improvements. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 represent perspective views of parts of the machine detached.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents the frame of the machine, having a bed, b, on which the leather to be cut is supported, the part Z) of the bed, which is directly under the cuttingknives,being a block of wood. 0 d represent the cutting-knives,which are secured,respectively, to oscillating frames 9 h, pivoted to the frame a, and capable of oscillating so as to cause the cutting-edges of theknives to alternately approach and recede from the block b.

The frames 9 h are arranged so that the knives in oscillating will not interfere with each other, this arrangement requiring the knife 01 to strike the cutting-block b at behind the point where the knife 0 strikes it.

'i z and jj represent rods, which are eccentrically connected to disks Z m on the ends of two positivelyrotated arbors, 0 p, journaled in the lower portion of the frame a, said rods being pivoted to the swinging ends of the frames 9 h, and so arranged that when the arbors 0 p are rotated the frames g h will be oscillated simultaneously in opposite directions, so that the knives are caused to descend upon the bed or cuttingblock b alternately, one rising while the other is falling.

The knives are reversely curved, so that each forms one edge ofa sole-blank, 1', the

(No model.)

piece of leather being moved forward by the operator after each cut, so that the next out forms the opposite edge of the sole, the leather being thus out without waste.

88 represent adjustable stops or gages which limit the forward movement of the leather. Said stops are supported by studs t t, which are adapted to slide on guides 24 u on a crossbar, o, attached to the frame a, and are conindependently, so that its stop can stand in advance of the other stop, thus enabling one stop to act on the edge formed by theknife c, and the other on the edge formed by the knife (I, the former being somewhat in advance of the latter, so that the two knives will not interfere with each other in their operation, as above described. The independent adjust-ability of the stops enables them to conform to an y slight variations in the curvature of the knives which may be caused by their springing. Each stop acts on the projecting convex curve of the sole-edge, so that when the stop sis acting to hold the leather the other stop, 8, is opposite the concave curve of the sole-edge and does not touch the latter. When the next edge is presented, the convex curve is presented to the stop 8 and the concave curve is opposite the stop s. The stops s s are provided with upwardly-projecting curved plates or guards a a, which are bent downwardly and backwardly at their upper ends, and prevent the soles and pieces of leather from accidentally passing over the stops and resting on the studs t t.

11 represents an incline affixed to the frame a to guide the severed soles downwardly.

0 represents a rock-shaft journaled in the frame a over said incline and provided with two arms, d d, which project over the forward edge of the sheet or piece of leather, and are oscillated by the. shaft 0, so as to knock each sole downwardly onto the incline b as soon as justable by means of set-screws and slots, so

that the length of each arm may bevaried. The arms d d are secured to the rock-shaft c I by set-screws u. a, which enable said arms. to

be set at any desired distance apart, so as to accommodate them to soles of different length, and also to be set at any desired angle on the shaft, so that the time of their descent upon the soles may be accurately adjusted. Heretofore in machines of this class a single knocker arm, has been employed, which, striking. the solo at one point only, does notknock it down as-promptly and; efficiently as the two arms hcreshown, and sometimes causes. one end of the sole to tip upwardlyand be caught between the end-of the piece of leather-awaiting the-next cut and the stopwhich arreststhe leather, thus preventing the leatherfrom reaching the stop, and therefore causing the next sole to. be of insufficient width. Moreover, the single arm heretoforeusedhas not been made adjustable on its rocksheft, so that in case it became bent or sprung it could, not be easily adjusted to properly time its op'era; tion. The rock-shaft c is provided with, an arm, f, at one end t0 which is pivoted; a rod, g., the other end of which is. eccentrically pivoted: toa disk, h, on a shaft, 'i,jeurnaled imthe lower portion of the frame The rotag tion. of said shaft oscillates therock-shaftc and its. arms. d dl. The shaft 41. is -provided with a pulley, 7c, on, which the driving-belt runs. Said shaft isalso providedzwith a gear, ltwhich meshes-with gears on 'm, on the shafts o p and rotates the same. These gears are located Within theframe a, and;un der thebed b and inclined bed b sotha t they are out of theway and cannot beclogged or obstructed by scraps or pieces of leather that fall from the machine.

I: claim 1. In aleather-cutting machinein whichare combined a cutting-block, the alternately-operatin g curved knives, the pivoted-framescarrying said, knives, arranged; to permit, the

knives to strike the bed at different points, the mechanism for oscillating said frames si multaneonsly in opposite directions, and two stops or gages arranged the one in advance of the other, to permit the knives to act at different points on the bed, the curved guards a a, secured to said stops, whereby the soles and pieces of leather are prevented from passing over the stops, as set forth.

2. In a leather-cutting machine, the combination, with the cutting mechanism, of the stops having the curved guards, as set forth.

3. The combination, with the cutting-block and the alternately-operating knives, of the two stops or gages having the guards a a, the studs t t, the crossbar o, supporting said studs, the yokeconnecting the studs and detachably connected to one of the studs, to permit its independent adjustment, and the screw swiveled in said yoke and; working in a threaded socket in the cross-bar, as set forth.

4. The adjustable stops having the plates or guards a a, combined with the alternatelyoperating' knives and the cuttingblock, as set forth.

5. The combination, with theknives, cuttingblock, and stops, of the two arms or knockers and the mechanismfor operating them,as set forth.

6. The combination, withthe knives, cuttingblock, and stops, of the two arms or knockers, the mechanism for operating them, and the devices whereby said arms may be, adjusted to' vary the distance between, them and to time their operation, as set forth.

7. In aleather-cutting machine,the combination, with the cutting mechanism,of arockshaft having two knocking-arms adjustable thereon, as set forth.

8. In a leather-cuttin g machine, a rock-shaft having two knocking arms vad j ustable thereon, as set forth, and provided with the adjustable end sections.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses,this.18th day of February, 1885.

DAVID KNOX.

Witnesses:

(J. F. BROWN, 1%. J. POWERS. 

